Scars and Stitching
by AudgeRoy
Summary: This is a fan-made story based on creations by Bob Kane and many others. This story is revolving around Batman related characters, which include popular, and not-so-popular characters too, such as Joker, Catwoman, Mr. Zsasz and so on.
1. Psych Ward

The walls were a gray shade with splashes of crimson, but had once been the solid color of white. There were four walls that all connected to form a small room. At the corner on the left, was a rather tiny, scrawny bed. The frame was a rusted metal, most likely compiled of elements such as brass or iron. The mattress itself was thin and completely flat. There were no bed sheets or pillows, mostly because the institute feared their patients would attempt suicide with what little tools they had. But even taking away these few items did not stop some inmates from attempting to do so. The mattress suggested that the previous patients who were quartered here had attempted to commit suicide because of the crusted blood that stuck to it. In some areas of the mattress, the blood clearly penetrated the mattress's first layer, and seemed to seep into it. To the right end of the tiny room, was the metal door. It had no slits or knobs, only scratches and yet again, blood.

There are about one hundred of these rooms, or cells, as many would call them, in this very building. The building was called Ward D or the "HRPU", short for High Risk Patients Unit. There were three other wards: Ward A, for strictly males and Ward B, for strictly females, both of which were "Low Risk Patient Units," Then of course there was the "Middle Risk Patients Unit", or Ward C, which housed both male, and female patients in separate cells.

Ward D, which also housed both male and female patients, was completely constructed with walls of cement blocks and thick metal. For every fifteen feet, there was a blockade; a prison like cell wall. To pass one, you had to have a special key. A ten-foot tall wall of cement two blocks thick surrounded the entire ward itself.

Only a few had ever managed to escape Ward D, but they never survived. After passing the ten-foot tall wall, there was nothing but a vast forest. The nearest civilized community was sixteen miles away. So, theoretically, if someone did manage to escape, his or her chance of surviving in the wilderness was slim. Even if they did somehow travel sixteen miles in ragged shoes, they'd have to jump off a huge cliff, into a river.

She fiddled with her wrist chains when the metal door opened with such urgency it alarmed her. Edward, her personal guard, called to her in a hurried tone. She got up and padded her feet in a melancholy manner. Edward pressed her arms together behind her back and walked her down the hall.

Edward released his grip on her and shoved her into a gloomy room. She stumbled in and another hand reached to her. A man sat her into a stiff chair. He then proceeded to restrain her by pressing her arms against the arms of the chair. Then he strapped a leather belt to both wrists. After he did so, he tightened a belt around her torso, ankles, and head. When he finished, he backed away and stood by the doorway.

"Good evening." A silky voice blanketed over the seemingly heavy air. She didn't reply, she only continued to stare straight ahead. Doctor Stiege leaned back in his fancy chair and awaited a response, but it never came. He clasped his hands defeated. "There is someone to see you today, his name is Jim Daniels. He's just going to ask a few questions. He'll be here for a week or so too." Doctor Stiege paused, curiously watching her reaction. She continued to stare. "Come in please." Doctor Stiege called out. A few seconds later, a man entered the door.

"Hello." The gentleman nodded to Doctor Stiege.

"This is Selina. Selina, this is Doctor Daniels." Selina turned her head mechanically towards Doctor Jim Daniels.

Selina's skin tone dawned a beautiful, flawless color to compliment her marvelous brown eyes. Her hair was short and brown as well. At a first glance, Selina would have been suspected to be a model. She was five foot seven and her weight was one hundred and twenty pounds. With a second, more dedicated glance, one would have noticed the ragged cuts melted into her skin and her fingernails chomped down to a literal nothing. Her hands shook violently and her mysterious eyes darted at every movement. She had an ability to stare straight ahead for minutes on end without moving any part of her body while doing so.

On the other hand, Jack "Jim" Daniels was completely organized. He had a solid foundation, which he had built himself upon for years. He was a white man, about the age of thirty-five, with dark hair and brown eyes. He was known for his outstanding expertise in the psychology field and his remarkable knowledge of how to "tame" a patient, as he would call it. Doctor Daniels had been critically acclaimed as "clearly the most notable psychologist in the history of the world." His legendary work had ultimately created an entirely new look at how the brain worked.

He had gone out of his way to visit Armhedy and had traveled by car and ship just to arrive at Armhedy Asylum: One of the world's most dangerous insane asylum, which was infested with the world's most demented and delirious inhabitants. Amongst the world's most mentally unstable people was Selina. She was the reason for which Doctor Daniels had come back to this bedlam institute. As he had once stated "Armhedy Asylum for the Criminally Insane has for years held the world's most difficult puzzles. The patients hold such a pandemonium as their first weapon, and their last defense. The exhaust that has been expressed by each doctor here has never-the-less demonstrated the effects of these patients."

"Pleased to meet you." Doctor Daniels responded. "Doctor Stiege, is there a place where Selina and I can speak?"

"Yes, right this way." Doctor Stiege led Selina and Doctor Daniels out of the gloomy room and into the gray hallway. Selina dragged herself down the hall while Doctor Daniels lagged behind, taking notice of Selina's unusual behaviors. Once Doctor Daniels and Selina found themselves in the dusty room, a series of questions fired out of Jim Daniels' mouth.

"Selina, explain to me what you hear inside your head?" He started nonchalantly. Selina didn't answer. She simply sat in the chair. On the other side of a thick glass, Doctor Stiege watched. He took note of the session. Selina never answered any of Doctor Daniels' questions. She only sat in her chair uninterested at the slightest bit. She was in a different place: a world that revolved around fear and pain.

She was startled when Doctor Daniels's chair screeched against the solid ground. He stood up rapidly in a fierce manner and dismissed Selina to her cell. Edward was let into the room to take her away. Meanwhile, both doctors met. Doctor Stiege fixed his uneven glasses elegantly as Doctor Daniels ruffled his thick black hair in a casual way.

"Thank you Doctor Stiege." Doctor Daniels spoke. "Where is my room?"

"Follow me Doctor." Doctor Stiege led Jim down the hallway. "I take great pleasure that you have found the opportunity to visit Armhedy on such short notice. Thank you."

"I thank you for allowing my stay freely." Jim replied. Doctor Stiege stopped and opened the door to a small room. Inside, a desk sat lazily with a lamp on top of it. There was a comfortable looking mattress and a tiny closet. Doctor Daniels entered and nodded thankfully at Doctor Stiege.

That night, Selina lay awake. She stared at the ceiling for an uninterrupted ten minutes. It was intolerably cold in her cell. Down the hall, she could hear heavy footsteps and across the room, the metal door hinges squeaked terrifyingly. There was an air of paranormal-ness in the institute that night, but Selina didn't dare take her eyes off the ceiling.

That is, until she could hear someone outside her door. A shiver went up her spine and her eyes darted curiously at the door. She sat up in her bed with her back against the wall.

Suddenly, the door swung open with fierceness. She couldn't make out the figure until it was directly in front of her: Then she realized the obscure silhouette belonged to Doctor Stiege. He pulled her up carefully and held onto her, proceeding to walk her out of the room. Selina didn't revolt against Doctor Stiege, she pondered what the sudden action of Doctor Stiege bursting in was for. Silently, they traveled downstairs and into an unfamiliar room. It was bleach white and had a few seats inside it.

"What's happening?" Selina quietly whispered. A hint of horrified curiousness followed her question.

"It is no longer safe here Selina, I have to send you to a new asylum." His soft-spoken words lingered in Selina's mind.

"What if I don't want to go?" She questioned. As much as Selina hated to admit it, she had a fondness for Doctor Stiege. He was kind to her when no one else was. He was understanding when others blamed her. To leave so suddenly made her heart break. She spoke once more. "What's going on?"

"Selina, you have been my favorite patient ever of all my four-hundred patients. I want you to have a better life. Doctor Daniels just received word that the last three patients he had been working with here have just been murdered. They say it was just random, but I fear that it's quite ironic that they were all Doctor Daniel's patients. I don't want you to be next, you understand?" Doctor Stiege pulled Selina into a bear hug.

"Can you come with me?" She let go of him and fear took over her expression.

"I'm staying, I have too many patients here to leave. But I promise to visit you. Promise." He smiled and fixed his glasses. Then his face grew very dark and serious. "Doctor Daniels and I have decided to transport you to Arkham Asylum. It's not much better, but there is a psychologist there by the name of Doctor Crane who is quite advanced. Doctor Daniels will accompany you on your trip."

A hot tear rolled down Selina's cold, pale cheek. She gave him one last hug before Doctor Daniels entered and pulled her away. "Visit me, keep your promise." Doctor Daniels hurriedly scuttled her away.

In the hot summer night, Selina's skin burned red. Neither her nor Doctor Daniels spoke. They simply walked down a ragged path to the docks. Finally, Doctor Daniels spoke. "Your things have been packed. They're on the boat." Selina nodded kindly and walked onto the boat with Jim trailing behind.

They slept on bunk beds in the same cabin for the remainder of the night. In the morning, they were on shore. The smell of seaweed indicated they had gone down Armhedy River, through the ocean, and back into another river.

Selina gathered her luggage when Doctor Daniels directed her to, and they both exited the boat.

"We'll stop and eat breakfast, today's going to be a long day."


	2. Child's Play

Chapter 2—

Doctor Daniels and Selina were taken to an unfamiliar location, which went by the name of Arkham Asylum. The cryptic bedlam seemed to be confined from society in nearly all aspects. The building was old and extremely large. Before entering upon its vicinity, there was a copper gate left wide open, which read Arkham Asylum in large letters, right above it. There was no doubt that this solitary confinement kept things at the asylum relatively quiet to society.

Hesitantly, both Selina and Doctor Daniels walked passed the gate and into Arkham property. The air seemed to loom with the presence of paranormal beings and the sky's heavy red sun beating upon the two made it harder to think. Pulling their luggage with them, both Selina and Doctor Daniels shuffled into the mansion-like asylum. At a desk in the entrance, a woman looked up from her paperwork and greeted the new patient and the doctor.

"You must be Selina!" The woman politely offered her hand "And you must be Doctor Jim Daniels! It's a pleasure to meet you both, my name is Jean Lafaye." Jean and Doctor Daniels shook hands. "Doctor Crane is busy with a mischievous patient right now, but I'd be more than happy to show you where your room is, Doctor Daniels. Unfortunately for you, Selina, you won't have a room until Doctor Crane assigns you one."

Jean led both Selina and Doctor Daniels to Doctor Daniels' new room. She informed them that Doctor Crane should be ready to greet them in ten minutes. This time gave Doctor Daniels the chance to unpack his things. In his room, there was an acceptable bed and mattress on the far wall. On another wall was a chalkboard with a desk under it. The wooden desk was perfect for paperwork. Then there was a small closet with a dozen hangers in it.

Suddenly there was a quiet knock at the door and both Selina and Doctor Daniels turned around simultaneously. Doctor Daniels opened the door slowly and Selina tensed up.

"Ah, hello! It is great to see new faces around. You, without a doubt, are Doctor Daniels. I cannot express my pleasure in having you here!" The man paused and fixed his eyes on Selina, surveying her. "And you, my dear, must be Selina." The man shook her hand politely. "Forgive me! My name is Doctor Jonathan Crane."

Doctor Crane was a tall, bony figure. He had ruffled brown hair that matched his brown eyes. He wore glasses that somewhat made the dark circles around his eyes look more intensified. He also wore a suit and tie, which was typical apparel for a psychologist of such prestige. It was clear that Doctor Crane was a stressed out person, but he went out of his way to be polite and to look as if he weren't stressed.

Doctor Daniels and Doctor Crane conversed for a minute and then Doctor Crane took Selina to his office. Doctor Crane's office was large. It could be compared to an average sized bedroom. The walls were a beige shade. There were no windows and the thick walls hid Selina and Doctor Crane from the boisterousness in the hallways.

There were piles of papers stacked upon the rather small but sturdy desk. Next to the pile of papers was a laptop computer and a cup full of pens and pencils. Doctor Crane sat nonchalantly in his office chair and watched Selina curiously as she sat down.

"Selina, if I may call you that, as you already know, I am Doctor Crane and am hereby your official psychologist. I will be monitoring your behaviors, prescribing you medications if and as needed, and will be responsible for assigning you a cell." Doctor Crane smiled awkwardly. He had come across many patients at Arkham and none of them struck him as stunningly beautiful as Selina. Her eye color seemed to change between green and hazel. Her long hair was silky and a lavish brown. She was, he self-consciously admitted and took a note of, a little too skinny.

"What about Doctor Daniels?" Selina spoke softly.

"Doctor Daniels is no longer to be associated with you. We have a greed that two psychologists would be too stressful to manage. He will now be caring for a few other patients here at Arkham." Doctor Crane replied pettily. "Selina, tell me a few things you like, things you enjoy"

"I…" Selina paused. For a brief, tranquil moment, she was static. "I like…Well, I don't like a lot of things."

"How about we start with your favorite color, food, sport, and drink." Doctor Crane grabbed a pen from his cup and then a large notepad.

"My favorite color is purple, and my favorite food is spaghetti. I like soccer and gymnastics, and my favorite drink is milk. Oh, or grape Kool-Aid." Selina's eyes lit up when she reminded herself of her fondness for grape Kool-Aid. Meanwhile, Doctor Crane scribbled on his notepad vigorously

"Tell me about your parents." He impinged on Selina's happiness. Immediately, at the hearing of the word 'parents', Selina's complacency swayed into a monotonous expression, which she used to conceal the pain she received from even thinking of her parents. Selina never responded and Doctor Crane was left to speak. "It's too early to dwell on such a subject I suppose. Tell me about what you hear in your head, or what no one else hears."

"The voices?" Selina sat up abruptly.

"Yes." Doctor Crane nodded as his glasses fell slightly.

"I'm no sure… I can't remember. They come when I'm alone, when I'm in danger. They help me, but give me migraines. The migraines are continuous for hours." Selina pondered about the voices in her head.

"Very well, do you think you are "crazy"?" Doctor Crane questioned.

"No, I don't." Selina eyes grew vicious.

"Hmm. Then why are you here?" Doctor Crane pressed on.

"I'm not, it's a dream." Selina replied confidently.

"I think this is enough for one day. Your cell will be in the High Risk Patient Unit." Doctor Crane stood up.

"What? Why? I'm not crazy! I'm not!" Selina stood up furiously as two armed men entered the room and pulled her away as she screamed. Through every hallway, she violently frenzied. Finally, the two men stopped walking and opened a large vault-like door. They proceeded to toss Selina in. she fell into the padded cell and began thrusting her head against the floor.

An hour or so had passed and a buzzing noise rang in her cell. At first Selina thought it was in her head, then the door opened. Selina didn't look up from the floor. She continued hitting her head ferociously. Doctor Crane entered the cell quietly with his glasses in one hand and a tazer in the other.

"Selina, it's lunch time, I've come to escort you to the cafeteria." Selina stood up shakily and nodded quietly. Outside of the cell, the same two men who had brought her here awaited. They followed behind Selina and Doctor Crane to the cafeteria. "Sit down where you'd like, you have half an hour to eat." Doctor Crane and the two men stood at the entrance of the cafeteria surveying the gloomy room.

Meanwhile, Selina didn't bother getting lunch. She wasn't hungry, but she mostly refused to get lunch to prove a point; she was angry. Instead of lunch, she gazed around the room to find an open spot to sit. There was one table that had a spot open. She walked casually to it and sat down. A few seats away, there was a man. Guards on every side surrounded him. His hair was mix between green and blond and it was wavy and greasy. His face was painted white, but his eyes were smudged with black and his lips were covered in red. Selina noticed his dark eyes flickering from place to place. He struck her as a happy, outgoing man, but she had a gut feeling that told her to stay away. She couldn't help but stare at him fondly. As he turned his attention towards her, she could faintly make out scars on his cheeks that carved upwards like an abnormally large smile. She pulled her gaze away quickly when she noticed him looking at her eyes. Right at that moment, her two guards crossed the room to her.

"Go get lunch, now." One guard viciously spat at her. Selina didn't budge.

"NOW." The guard roared and the entire cafeteria had their eyes on Selina. Instead of complying, she laughed and swung her fist at the guard. Her fist exerted such a force that the punch was almost unseen. The guard held his face after the contact was made as the other guard ran towards Selina. As he reached her proximity, she roundhouse kicked him in the face. The crowd was silent and she noticed the green-haired man's eyes on her. At this point, Doctor Crane was making his way toward her. He reached into his pocket and when his hand reappeared, there was a needle in his hand. Selina froze. She caught herself staring back at the green-haired man. Doctor Crane plunged the needle into her arm and released a strong, painful liquid into her veins. Selina screamed and fell to the ground.

Doctor Crane looked around the room. "Everyone relax, it's a sedative. She will be up and runnin' soon." He tried to assure the crowd, but it didn't work. Everyone new that Doctor Crane had a reputation for making his patients crazier. They had all heard stories about Crane using toxins to find patients' true fear. He was said to have made the Joker crazier than he was before.

Selina was on the floor rolled up into a ball. Her eyes flashed omni-presently. The green-haired man stood up and his guards stiffened. They attempted to halt him, but he pushed through and punched Doctor Crane.

"Doctor Crane!" He licked his lips. "Look what you did to the poor lady!"

"What are you waiting for? Get him out of here!" Doctor Crane held his jaw painfully and scolded the guards.


End file.
